It's rare you find tyre tests specifically scoring subjective handling qualities as it's a very difficult thing for tyre testers to quantify, but this latest tyre test from the Finish publication Test World scores the tyres subjective behaviour out of a possible ten points in both the dry and wet. This is particularly interesting if you're not worried about that final 0.1 seconds of dry lap time, but do rate the subjective qualities of a tyre such as steering feel, feedback and car balance.

This test covers sixteen 225/45 R17 UHP tyre patterns using an Audi A3 - perhaps not the last word in dynamic handling but it is still an insight to the tyres we don't usually get.

Dry

Strangely Test World didn't publish dry handling lap times, instead looking at dry braking from 90 km/h and subjective points. Continental, Hankook and Michelin all scored well in the dry tests, offering short dry braking and good subjective handling.

Wet

In the wet, Test World added wet handling and an aquaplaning test. As we've previously seen in 2018, the new Falken dominated wet braking, and was 0.4 seconds off during the wet handling lap.

Environment

Test world published the rolling resistance scoring as a percentage difference from the best tyre on test. The Bridgestone had the lowest rolling resistance so was the 100% reference, Pirelli was mid pack using 2.6% more fuel than the Bridgestone, and the Yokohama tyre finished last but still only 5.7% more fuel use than the winning tyre.

Again, the in-cabin noise levels were very close, with the best and worst tyres on test less than 2 dB apart.

Results

Positive: Short braking distances in the dry and wet, excellent handling in all conditions, excellent balance during emergency maneuvers, excellent feedback in all conditions.Negative: Relatively high rolling resistance.